Our committee and the leadership of the parliament have come to a common understanding that in the absence of a Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Somalia complimented by four additional lay persons appointed equally by the Executive and parliament shall constitute a Constitutional Court as per the 1960 Constitution.

We affirm that the Court is the sole constitutional interpretive platform that is empowered to rule the constitutionality and legality of the impeachment motion, and that it is incumbent on the leadership of the parliament to submit the motion to the court forthwith.

We remind the leadership of the parliament of the urgency of the motion as a matter of critical public interest and counsel it to attend to it expeditiously.

We caution the office of the President not to associate with individuals who are instigating intimidation and violence against members of parliament who are signatories of the motion. We have in our possession taped radio messages threatening members of parliament and these messages are attributable to individuals who may be close to the office of the President.

We urge the office of the President to issue clear statements distancing his office from these dangerous and potentially harmful messages.

We inform the Somali public that, contrary to rumours being circulated around, our committee has not entered into negotiations with the office of the President, nor would we entertain such an idea. As a matter of fact, signatories of the motion do not have any mandate to negotiate on a motion, which contains allegations with a nexus to criminal offences.

We welcome the possibility of negotiations only if it is about the honourable resignation of the President in exchange for a waiver on future criminal proceeding against him and his office.

We thank the Somalia public for its patience and support during this difficult period and we promise that we will conclude the matter responsibly and will keep the peace.

We thank the partners of Somalia in the international community for keeping its promise not to interfere in this matter. We also thank it for respecting the sovereignty of the constitutional institutions of Somalia and understanding that these institutions are mature enough and well equipped to resolve the issue through a transparent process.

End of Press Release